 |
| Helicteres pegueroi Mart.Gord. & Clase in Martínez-Gordillo, Clase & Fragoso-Martínez, 2020. |
Abstract
A new species of Helicteres from the Dominican Republic is described and illustrated; increasing the number of species occurring in the Caribbean to five. The new species, Helicteres pegueroi, can be distinguished from H. jamaicensis and H. semitriloba by its habit and calyx and corolla colour, i.e. it is a shrub with red calyces and corollas; its pseudoactinomorphic flower due to a slight curvature at the base of the androgynophore; and its densely woolly, globose fruit. An artificial, dichotomous key is provided to distinguish the new species from the other species of the Caribbean region and Mexico.
Keywords: Barahona, Helicteroideae, Hispaniola, Malvales, Sierra Martín García
 |
| FIGURE 1. Helicteres pegueroi. A: Branch with flowers. B: Dissected calyx with one lobe slightly different from the rest. C: Clawed petals. D: Androgynophore. E: Lanate fruit. F: Triangular seeds. G: Stipitated stellate trichomes from the stem and, H: lower surface of the leaf with trichomes lacking stipe. All drawn from Clase et al. 9925 (JBSD), by Ramiro Cruz Durán. |
Helicteres pegueroi Mart.Gord. & Clase sp. nov.
Frutex calycibus et corollis rubris, calyx nectario parietali completo et undulatus, corolla exserta, inflorescentia cincinnus biflorus, flores pedicellis nectariis patelliformibus, androgynophoro parce curvato ad basim, fructibus globosis dense lanatis.
Etymology:—The name of the new species honors the Dominican botanist Brigido Peguero, who is the head of the Botany department at the National botanical garden of Dominican Republic (Jardín Botánico Nacional “Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso”), and part of the editorial board of the journal Moscosoa. Professor Peguero has dedicated his academic life to the study of the Hispaniolan flora from different perspectives, such as: economic botany, ecology and taxonomy. Together with other botanists he has collected over 15, 000 specimens in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico.
Distribution, habitat and phenology:— The new species is found in the Sierra Martín García, in the province of Barahona, from where it seems to be endemic. It is only known from dry forests at 600 m of elevation, sharing habitat with the following species: Bursera simaruba (L.) Sargent (1890: 260), Exostema caribaeum (Jacq.) Roemer & Schultes (1819: 19) and Guaiacum sanctum Linnaeus (1753: 382). Flowers from August to November.
Martha Martínez-Gordillo, Teodoro Clase and Itzi Fragoso-Martínez. 2020. Helicteres pegueroi (Malvaceae: Helicteroideae): A New Species from the Dry Forests of the Dominican Republic. Phytotaxa. 438(1); 1–5. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.438.1.1
Resumen: Una nueva especie del género Helicteres de República Dominicana es descrita e ilustrada; aumentando el número de especies distribuidas en el Caribe a cinco. La nueva especie, H. pegueroi, se distingue de H. jamaicensis y H. semitriloba por ser un arbusto con flores de cáliz y corola rojos; la flor es pseudoactinomórfica, debido a una ligera curvatura en la base del androginóforo y, la presencia de fruto densamente lanoso, globoso. Se proporciona una clave dicotómica para distinguir al nuevo taxón de las otras especies de la región del Caribe y México.
